Fruit press



Aug. 5, 1969 R. H.BEGIEBING FRUIT PRESS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 15,1966 INVENTOR. mm mus/Na Aug. 5, 1969 R. H. IBEGIEBING FRUIT PRESS I5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 15, 1966 INVENTOR. mm mama BY FIEl- -4- Aug.5, 1969 H. BEGIEBING FRUIT PRESS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 15. 1966PIES-.5.

INVENTOR.

M31587 M BEG/MING BY v Arm/m s- United States Patent 3,459,123 FRUITPRESS Robert H. Begiebing, Monterey, Califi, assignor to American SugarCompany, Salinas, Calif., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Sept. 15,1966, Ser. No. 579,696 Int. Cl. B30b 9/24, /04

U.S. Cl. 100-118 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This inventionrelates to improvements in fruit presses and more particularly toimprovements in presses which employ serpentine permeable webs like thepresses shown in U.S. Patent No. 3,130,667 issued to Robert J. Coffeltand application Ser. No. 548,961, filed May 10, 1966, by the sameinventor.

The serpentine presses invented by Mr. Coffelt and described in thedocuments mentioned above have many advantages which are apparent fromthose documents. It is the principal object of this invention to provideimprovements to the Coflelt structure.

In accordance with this invention, I have provided improvements in theconstruction of fruit presses which permit presses like Coffelt pressesto be made and operated more efiiciently. Additionally, I have provideda construction for these presses by which the presses may be made inmodular segments. Different members of the modules may be assembled indifferent machines to give machines with different members of pressingstages.

In accordance with this invention, the rollers of a fruit press like thepresses invented by Mr. Coffelt, are all mounted in cantilever conditionfrom a single frame at one side of the serpentine path, and all of thedriving mechanism for the press is mounted on the back side of thissingle frame. Additionally, I have provided several new structuralfeatures in fruit presses of this type which permit eflicient cantileversupport of the rollers and minimum manufacturing costs for the press.

I have also provided a press structure which eliminates the long returnloop of the Coffelt machine and thereby substantially reduces theproblem of belt stretching.

These structural improvements in fruit presses provide substantialimprovements in the ease with which the press may be made and used. Byway of example, the elimination of one of the two side frames of theCoffelt machine permits the permeable webs to be installed and removedfrom the press in a direction parallel to the axes of the rollers whichsupport the webs. The webs may now be made in closed loop form withpremade joints before the webs are placed on the press. Additionally,the problem of cleaning the press is greatly simplified because thepress can be cleaned completely by directing a water stream against theopen side of the press, that is the side of the single frame on whichthe rollers are mounted.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description read in conjunction with the attached drawingsin which:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of the open side of 3,459,123Patented Aug. 5, 1969 "ice a fruit press constructed in accordance withthe principles of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the press of FIG. 1illustrating one of the press stages where the permeable webs pass overone of the rollers;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation view of the press of FIG. 1 taken from theright-hand side of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane indicated at 44in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane indicated at 5-5in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 5 taken alongthe plane indicated at 66 in FIG. 5 which is the back side of themachine as viewed in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the press of FIG. 1 taken along theplane indicated at 7-7;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 1 illustrating themanner in which the parts of the press in FIG. 1 are normally assembledfor a nine stage press, and;

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 8 illustrating themanner in which the parts of the press of FIG. 1 are normally assembledinto a three stage press.

Referring now in detail to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, thefruit press illustrated therein includes a plurality of rollers 1through 13 which are mounted for rotation about generally parallel axesin a configuration somewhat similar to that illustrated in the abovementioned co-pending application of Mr. Cofielt. The rollers 1 through 9define nine successive press stages in the serpentine path of two webs14 and 15. The roller 10 cooperates with the rollers 1 through 9 indefining the complete path of the web 14. The rollers 11 and 12 cooperate with rollers 1 through 9 in defining the complete path for thebelt 15 in most arrangements of the fruit press. The roller 13cooperates with the rollers 1 and 2 for defining the path of one of thewebs in the fruit press when the press is arranged in a three stagecondition as illustrated in FIG. 9.

One final roller 16 is provided on the machine adjacent to the inputarea between the webs 14 and 15 to control the angle at which the websapproach each other as mentioned in the above identified Coffeltapplication.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the belts 14 and 15 are substantially incontact with each other throughout the serpentine path except for thearea where the rollers 11 and 12 support the belt 15 in a positionremote from the belt 14. In this portion of the serpentine path, afeeding mechanism is provided for delivering fruit to the space betweenthe webs, and a discharge mechanism is provided for removing pressedfruit pulp from between the webs. The feeding mechanism comprises a tube17 entering the space between the webs 14 and 15 in a directiongenerally parallel to the axes of the rollers with a screw conveyor 18mounted in the tube and arranged to discharge fruit through an aperturenot shown onto the web 14. A spreader plate 19 is mounted adjacent tothe bottom of the screw conveyor to distribute fruit evenly over thesurface of the web 14. The discharg mechanism mentioned above consistsof a scraper plate 2 positioned adjacent to the roller 11 for scrapingthe pulp of pressed fruit off of the web 15.

As can be best seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, the rollers 1-13 and 16 aremounted on a single frame which is positioned on one side of theserpentine path of the webs 14 and 15, that is at similar ends of all ofthe rollers 1-13 and 16. This frame is formed of a plurality of modularmetal castings which include: a left-hand casting 21, a central casting22, a right-hand casting 23, a pair of lower castings 24 and 25, and apair of bottom castings 26 and 27 mounted on a rigid base 28. Thecastings 24 and 26 are similar to each other, and the castings 25 and 27are substantially identical to each other. Additionally, the frame ofthe press includes two auxiliary castings 29 and 30 which might be usedon the press at the same time but which are normally used in alternativeconditions of the press components. Various castings which form theframe are connected together by bolts 31 as illustrated in FIG. 7, andthe castings are provided with integral bosses 32 on the back side ofthe frame, the side of the frame not visible in FIG. 1 for purposesexplained below.

The rollers 1-9 and 11 are mounted in cantilever condition on the singleframe of the machine by rotary support means illustrated in FIG. 4, andthe rollers 10, 12, 13 and 16 are mounted on arms 33, 34, 35, and 36,respectively, by rotary support means similar to that of FIG. 4 with thearms pivotally mounted on the frame castings by rotary support means asillustrated in FIG. 5. These various rotary support means are allsimilar to each other except that hydraulic driving motors are mountedon the support means for roller stages 1, 2 and 3, and the remainder ofthe rollers in the press are not driven.

Referring to FIG. 4, the rotary support means for the roller 1 includesan axle 37 which extends through the frame casting 21 and through theboss 32 thereon with the axle 37 bolted to the hub 38 of roller 1 bymeans of bolts 39. A bearing 40 is mounted between the axle 37 and theframe casting 21 adjacent to the roller 1, and a second bearing 41 ismounted between the axle 37 and the boss 32 at the free end of thelatter with the bearings 40 and 41 spaced apart a substantial distancealong the axis of the axle 37 to provide effective cantilever supportfor the webs 14 and 15 when the webs are subjected to substantialtension. A pair of O-ring seals 42 are provided at opposite ends of therotary support, and a lubricant fitting (not shown) is also provided. Aflange 43 is provided on the rearward end of the rotary support holdingthe axle 37 in place after it is inserted from the roller side of theframe 21.

Power drive for the roller 1 is provided by a hydraulic motor 44 mountedon a bracket 45 on the free end of the boss 32. The hydraulic motor 44has a conventional rotary drive shaft (not shown) which is connected bybolts 46 to the axle 37 coaxially of the axle 37 for imparting rotarymotion of the roller 1. As illustrated in FIG. 3, additional hydraulicmotors 47 and 48 are provided for rollers 2 and 3.

Referring to FIG. 5, the support arrangement for the pivot arms such asarm 33, is illustrated in greater detail. The arm 33 is attached bybolts 49 to an axle 50 which is mounted in the frame casting 23 by arotary support mechanism similar to the rotary support of FIG. 4. Two ofthe bolts 49 on each of the arms 33, 34, 35 are not threaded into theaxle 50 but instead theyre against the axle to permit tilting adjustmentto be made for the arms 33 etc., to control belt tracking. The roller 10is mounted on the upper end of the arm 33 by means of another rotarysupport means substantially the same as that shown in FIG. 4. Asillustrated in FIGS. and 6, the arm 33 is provided with a lever portion51 which is clamped to the axle 50 and provided at its free end with aslot 52. An elongated screw 53 provided with an adjusting hand wheel 54is threadably mounted in the frame section 23. A sleeve carrying a pairof pins 55 is slidably received on the screw 53 with the pins 55received in the slots 52 of the crank arms 51. A pair of nuts 56 arerigidly mounted on the screw 53 and provide a shoulder facing toward thearm 51. A helical compression spring 57 is mounted on the screw 53between the arm 51 and bolts 56. The mechanism shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 isprovided for pivoting the roller about the axis of axle 50 to controlthe tension on the web 14. A similar adjusting mechanism including thescrew 58 in FIG. 1 is provided for pivoting the arm 34 to controltension on the web 15, and a third similar adjusting mechanism includingthe hand wheel 59 in FIG. 1 is provided for rocking the arm 35 androller 13 for controlling the tension on the short web section 60 whichis entrained over the roller 13 in the three stage form of machine shownin FIG. 9. A fourth adjusting mechanism similar to the mechanism ofFIGS. 5 and 6, but omitting the spring 57, is provided for pivoting thearm 36 and roller 16. The compression springs 57 are provided on theadjusting mechanisms for the rams 33, 34 and 35 where the compressionspring gives resiliency to the tension control for the webs. The springis not employed in the adjusting mechanism for the arm 36 however,because resiliency for the support of roller 16 is not desired. Instead,roller 16 is mounted in a fixed position depending upon the fruit whichis being pressed by the machine and the rate at which the fruit is beingfed to the machine.

As illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, the modular components of the pressillustrated in FIG. 1 may be arranged in different groups to give fruitpresses having ditferent numbers of pressing stages. Thus, the press isillustrated in FIG. 8 in a condition where it is assembled as a ninestage press where each stage of the press is made up of one of therollers 1-9. The press of FIG. 8 may be converted into a seven stagepress by removing the rollers 6 and 7 or 4 and 5 and replacing the belts14 and 16 by shorter belts which are entrained directly from roller 5 toroller 8 or from roller 3 to roller 6. The press of FIG. 8 may beassembled as a five stage press by removing the rollers 4, 5, 6 and 7and the frame castings 26 and 27 and replacing the webs 14 and 15 byshorter webs which are entrained directly from roller 3 to roller 8. Ina similar manner, the press of FIG. 8 can be built with similar parts asa press having eleven to thirteen pressing stages by adding to the pressadditional frame castings identical to castings 26 and 27 with rollersmounted thereon identical to rollers 4-7. As mentioned above, the framecasting 29 may be used on the press at the same time that the framecasting 30 is used. However, the frame casting 29 is generally used onlywhen the components of the machine of FIG. 1 are arranged as a threestage press as shown in FIG. 9. When the press is arranged in thismanner, a short belt 14 is entrained directly from roller 3 to roller10, and a short web section 60, used in place of the web 15, isentrained over the rollers 1, 2, 13 and 16. When the press is arrangedas a three stage press as shown in FIG. 9, the same screw feedingmechanism 18 (FIG. 1) may be used for feeding fruit to the press, butthe fruit may be discharged from the press at the periphery of roller 3as indicated by arrow 61 in FIG. 9.

As mentioned in the Coffelt patent and the Coffelt application, fruitjuices are pressed from the fruit in the areas where the webs 14 and 15pass around the peripheries of the rollers 1-9 and suitable means may beprovided in these areas for collecting the fruit juices. In this regard,the press is provided with shrouds 62 which collect the fruit juices anddeliver the fruit juices to delivery conduits 63. The delivery conduitsmay be connected in any way desired by the user of the press to combineor keep separae the fruit juices collected at ditferent stages of thepress. The shrouds 62 are mounted in the frame members of the press byconnectors 64 which preferably are made in a form where the shrouds canbe removed from the press relatively easily. In this regard, it will benoted that the press of this invention can be cleaned very easily whenthe shrouds 62 are removed. When it is desired to clean the press, theshrouds are removed, and the arms 33-36 are adjusted to relax thetension on belts 14 and 15, and the entire press may then be cleaned byspraying the side of the machine visible in FIG. 1 with a high pressurestream of water. Additionally, since the press has frame members on onlyone side of the rollers, the webs 14 and 15 can be removed from thepress in a direction parallel to the axes of the rollers, that is in adirection forward from the page of FIG. 1, and new belts can beinstalled in the press in a reverse manner. Since the webs 14 and 15 maybe formed into closed loops before they are placed in the press, thewebs may be made of thermo plastic materials which are heat sealedtogether in effective heat sealing equipment before the webs are placedon the machine.

While one specific embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed in detail herein, it is obvious that many modificationsthereof may be made without departing from the invention.

I claim:

1. In a fruit press having a plurality of rollers mounted for rotationabout generally parallel spaced apart axes and a pair of permeable Websentrained over said rollers, each web defining a closed serpentine path,said webs being positioned adjacent to each other along a portion of theperiphery of at least one of said rollers, the combination comprising aframe mounted at one side of said Web-defined paths, rotary supportmeans rotatably mounting each of said rollers on said frame, saidrollers projecting in cantilevered condition from said frame, drivemeans for rotating at least one of said rollers, whereby access isprovided to said web-defined paths in a direction parallel to said axesand from the side of said paths opposite to said frame, support means onsaid frame engaging said webs and supporting said webs separated andapart from each other along portions of their serpentine paths, whichserpentine path portions are each trained or disposed in non-enclosingrelation to the balance of said serpentine paths defined by said Webs,feeding means for introducing fruit between said Webs, where said websare supported separated and apart from each other, in a directiongenerally parallel to said axes, and discharge means, where said Websare supported separated and apart from each other, for dischargingpressed fruit in a direction generally parallel to said axes.

2. In a fruit press having a plurality of rollers mounted for rotationabout generally parallel spaced apart axes and a pair of permeable websentrained over said rollers,

each Web defining a closed serpentine path, said webs being positionedadjacent to each other along a portion of the periphery of at least oneof said rollers, the combination comprising a frame mounted at one sideof said webdefined paths, rotary support means rotatably mounting eachof said rollers on said frame, said rollers projecting in cantileveredcondition from said frame, drive means for rotating at least one of saidrollers, whereby access is provided to said web-defined paths in adirection parallel to said axes and from the side of said paths oppositeto said frame, a boss on said frame surrounding the axis of one of saidrollers on the side of said frame opposite to said rollers, an axlemounted on said roller and extending through said boss, first bearingmeans between said frame and said axle at the side of said frame whichis adjacent to said web-defined paths, and second bearing means betweensaid boss and said axle at the side of said boss which is remote fromsaid web-defined paths, said drive means comprising a motor mounted onsaid frame on the side thereof opposite to rollers and connected to saidaxle for driving said roller.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 692,823 2/1902 Bremer 120 X995,283 6/1911 Patton 100152 1,179,737 4/1916 Manly 100l72 X 1,599,3769/1926 Smith. 1,991,760 2/1935 McEver et al. 100152 2,069,589 2/1937Meivling et a1.

3,130,667 4/1964 Colfelt 100118 3,176,607 4/1965 Lapham 100118 FOREIGNPATENTS 1,165,986 3/1964 Germany.

PETER FELDMAN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 100152

